The World She Never Knew
by MariSmith
Summary: This story is about a girl that knows nothing about the vampires that live in the world around her and how she is connected to it. She has lived her life only knowing what she has seen from her mother and father who suddenly have died who up until this point have been her hero until the night she is only given one choice to join another task force that she has never heard of.


Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Chapter 1**

The rain hit the tin roof above my head as I slowly walked the steel beam counting each step that I took. I carefully took note of each creak that was made and listened for the sounds of other voices outside. I felt the wire tug at my waist and I carefully bent down and grabbed the piece of chalk out and drew a line. This is was how far the wire was going to take me and I knew that I needed a good running start to swing down from the beam at just the correct angle to be able to hit my mark. I balanced myself as I stood up slowly and turned on my heels carefully making sure that I kept my balance. I had spent most of the day here plotting out my moves and going through all possible scenarios in case of trouble which has not been a good running streak for me for the last couple of times I've done this. I heard the crackling in my ear before I heard the strong voice of my commander.

"Cat are you in place?"

"I'm making my way back to my post now sir." I answered as I slowly walked back toward the wall where no light hit. The black outfit I wore concealed my presence well in the dark.

"They are on their way in. The black limo is at the gates now and you should be seeing activity soon."

I hurried my pace and squatted down in the corner. "All set sir. And Mark no worries alright?" I whispered. I heard a sigh on the other end. The sigh was not one of discontent, but one of true worry and now with the history between us it made this mission much more complicated. At first Mark and I fought the feelings between us with a smile as we passed each other in the hallway to a let's go celebrate this big bust. We had only been dating for about two months now without the suspicions of other team mates. We always arrived in separate cars and left in separate cars. At work it was all work, but we always seemed to find a way to go out of town on the weekends together. We would both hate to know that one of us would have to leave the team, basically me, because of a romance and the how it would impact the performance of our jobs.

"You're the best I've got and I would hate to lose someone like you to something like this. I can't promise you no worries."

"Then promise me this. When all is said and done and we finally bust these guys that you'll take me to the dinner you've been promising me." I smiled.

I didn't hear his answer as the big doors slowly opened and two armed men with semi automatics walked in as the black limo slowly made it's way into the warehouse. The men glanced around the room and checked all the corners with flashlights that they had on them. I watched as one guard let the light slide up and down the wall opposite me and wondered if the other one would do the same. I caught my breath trying not to move as the light on my side started toward me. I heard the laughter of another man and the buzz of the lights below me turn on. The two other men turned their heads to see the who had turned the lights on. I took the opportunity to lay myself flat against the beam and look at the mirror that was placed in the corner so that I could see all that was happening below me.

"What are all these little red lights in the corners?" The one man asked as he pointed the gun toward the little white box.

"They are motion sensors my friend. We can't have people just wandering in here now can we?" The sharp dressed man in the suite replied. He lifted his hands in triumph "The warehouse will be our new headquarters with no one being the wiser." he smiled as the sound of the limo's engine turning off made him turn around. I watched as the driver got out of the car and closed his door before making his way to toward the back and opening the back door. A short stout man with short white hair and dressed in a suite got out and looked around. I recognized him remembering the photos that were passed around in the briefing room. It was Sam the saint. A very unfitting name for a person of his career choice. He was the head of the Rodriguez family best known for their dealings with the cartel and the moving of large quantities of drugs from one coast to the next. We had heard everything from the time that they were moving the drugs to the place that they were being moved. The saint part came from his large amounts of money he donated to the church he and his family attended and all the charities his wife took part in. Seemed like such a nice guy in the eyes of the public. I smiled knowing that in just a few short moments the public would see this man as he truly was. A drug lord and not a saint.

"Nice place, but I don't see our merchandise son." Sam said with irritation. My attention quickly went to the young man that was sharply dressed.

Son? I thought. I quickly looked for the similarities to the two men and saw that in one point in time this is what Sam looked like when he was young. The eyes, the nose, the smile. They all mirrored his son. The son that we couldn't see or even get a good photo of. Whenever pictures were taken of him leaving the church it was always with his wife and never anyone else. This was the son that we had known about,but no one was able to see. My heart skipped a beat just thinking about how much sweeter this take down was going to be. We were going to nail the whole family in one night. Suddenly the static in my ear went off again and I heard Mark.

"Just listen and say nothing." he began "We need to see the merchandise and get them to say where the next shipment is going. We already have people waiting outside their house and I'm sure his wife will give him a call letting him know that we have arrived. So when you hear his phone ring make your move." The line went silent as I turned my attention back to scene below.

"Father" the man smiled "Do you really think that this warehouse is empty?" he asked as he went to the wall and pulled down one of the large controls I had inspected earlier. He pushed a button as the steel floor started to part down the middle. He stepped back as another steel floor started to rise with boxed crates lined up on it rose slowly to the top. I counted the boxes as the floor rose and came to a sudden jolt. There were four rows ten crates long and four crates high. One hundred and sixty crates total from what I could see. The young man smiled as he stepped toward one of the crates and took a crow bar to one of the bottom crates and revealed what was inside. I struggled to see from the mirror but he was blocking my view of the contents. "This crate alone father has over two million dollars worth of cocaine. The rest of the crates have everything from pills to heroine in it. Anything that the common drug user would ask for. These crates alone are worth billions and we got them here and ready to move to California by tomorrow." Sam smiled as he walked toward the young man.

"You did well my son, you did well. My boy Marco has proven himself to the family." Sam proclaimed. "I'm so proud of you." A faint ring came from Sam's pocket and he took it out. "It's your mother" he said as he hit a button on his phone and put it back in his pocket. "It can wait. For right now I want to know your plan with moving this large of a shipment to California." Marco's face beamed with excitement as he started.

"We have a" the phone rang again as Sam took the phone out of his pocket and huffed.

"It's your mother again." He signed as he held up a finger to son to give him a minute. "Hello" a long silence as everyone stood around waiting for Sam. "What?!" he exclaimed. "Say nothing and do nothing I am on my way home now." That was my signal. I rose slowly up on the beam making sure that I was completely balanced.

"Father what is it?" Marco asked

"The police they are taking your mother in for questioning."

I put my hand on my gun and drew it out in front of me. "Freeze!" I shouted and all heads turned toward me on the beam. "You're under arrest for the drug trafficking." The shocked look on their faces were priceless, but only lasted for a moment.

"You and what army?" Marco shouted. "Shoot her down!" It was in that instant that I watched the gunmen point their guns in my direction and and shots fired. I quickly started to run down the beam as I shot back, trying to gain speed down the narrow path. I watched as sparks started to fly up around me as the bullets hit the lights making it dark in the warehouse. I kept my speed up as I noticed the white line I had drawn earlier approaching and made one more shot with the gun in my hand throwing to to the ground knowing I had emptied it. I reached behind me as I pulled my other gun from belt as I reached the chalk line and felt the tug of the wire I took a leap off the beam and used my other hand to keep myself steady against the wire as I flew down with returning the bullets that flew past me. I felt some of them as they hit my vest and I aimed first for the man on the left and watched as he went down and quickly turned my gun to the man on the right. Marco pulled out his gun to start shooting. I felt the wire tighten and knew that I was getting ready to swing toward the wall I was just up against. I watched as the driver helped Sam into the car and then ran to front. I aimed for the tire and watched as it deflated. Always hit my mark I chuckled to myself. I heard the swarm of bullets around me as I neared the wall and saw that Sam had gotten out of the car with his gun drawn. I bent my knees waiting for my feet to hit the wall as I readied my knife. In one swift motion my feet hit the wall and I cut the wire setting myself free as I did a back flip to the ground. The bullets were coming faster as I ducked behind the crates. I returned fire hitting Marco in the shoulder to stop his advancement toward me. He quickly made more rounds of shots as I quickly hit the ground letting one of my arms fall past the crate and waited to hear that the guns had stopped going off. "Stupid" Marco didn't have time to finish his sentence when I heard the sirens outside and the rest of the team came charging in.

"Weapons down!" I heard Mark shout and the sounds of guns hit the floor. "On your knees now and put your hands behind your head!" I heard Paul start to read their rights. "Cat! Cat!" Mark shouted. A smile came across my face as I jumped up from behind the crates.

"Yes?" I answered him.

"Are you alright?" he asked

"Not too bad" I said as I looked down at my vest and started counting the holes. "I only died about four, five, six, seven, eight. Eight times." I smiled. "Better than last time."

Paul shook his head "Leave it to her to count how many times she was hit and by the way cats only have nine lives. You have one more."

Mark was not amused by our joke. "Look" I said trying to get the off attention of me. "This is a big bust! Did you hear what is in these crates?!" A small smile started to form across Mark's face.

"Yes and I can't wait until we find out how much we actually have in there." he said. Mark walked around the crates as I followed him. I saw the bullet holes that sprayed against the wood as Mark looked them over. He suddenly stopped as he noticed something and ran his finger down it. I looked over his shoulder to see blood smeared against his finger. "Is that?"

"Blood" Mark exclaimed. He looked up to see that blood ran down from at least four of the crates.

"Oh my goodness! You don't think" Paul stopped to look up and shouted for paramedics as I quickly made my accent up to the top.

"Throw me that crowbar!" I shouted as Mark ran to pick it up and threw it in my direction. I caught it with ease and used my weight to pry the lid off of it. I quickly lifted the lid afraid of what might be in the crate that was bleeding. Were they not only trafficking drugs, but people too. I moved the straw that covered the top to see what looked like champagne bottle tops and picked one up. It was champagne bottles full of blood. I showed Mark what I had found. "Why would they fill champagne bottles full of blood?"

**Chapter 2**

I laced up my boots and walked out to the my kitchen. The condo I lived in was left to me by my parents. I poured myself a cup of coffee and walked out to the balcony as the cool night air surrounded me. The memories of my mother and father filled my head. I had followed in the footsteps of my father. He was a great detective in the city of Atlanta. He was loved by all for his great work of taking people down and cracking down on the war on drugs. It wasn't until I was older that my father had become distant. He started to work mainly at night and slept during the day. He would come home and tell me stories of the bad guys that would run the streets at night and even made me promise not to go out. I sighed remembering how lovingly a father he was. It wasn't until one night I had come home from college to find my mother sitting in what is now my living room crying. She had told me that my father had been gunned down by drug lords and was killed in the line of duty. Because of how bad he was shot my mother insisted that his body be cremated. I turned to see the urn sitting on my fire place by the left corner of the flat screen t.v. I looked at the right corner to see my mothers urn sitting there. It still bothered me that the drug lords took out my mother and father, but I was determined to keep the family going. I was going to take every drug lord down in memory of my parents. I never got to say goodbye to either of them and never even got to see the body which still haunted me to this day. I was told that my mothers body was found in the woods chopped to pieces and the only way the corner could identify the body was because of her dental records. I couldn't stand the thought of seeing my mother hacked to pieces because of a mad man and opted to have her cremated as well. I admired the urns that sat upon my fireplace. I was given so many options to make it as if they weren't urns at all. I opted for the books type urns to make them more presentable in the living room.

The sound of the engine roaring from the street interrupted my thoughts and I looked down. I knew that sound anywhere. It was Marks corvette. The lady in red he called it. I watched as it came down the street and stopped in front of the building. I started a count down in my head. Five, four, three, two and my phone rang. I didn't even have to look at the screen as I pushed talk button. "One, hi Mark" I smiled.

"How'd you know it was me?" he asked.

"You're lady in red makes a lot of noise at night." I laughed

"Just wanted to let you know that I'm ahead of you Cat if you're still watching me from your balcony. See you at station." he said as the line went dead.

I watched as he sped away as a smile crept across my face. "You have no idea how fast I can get to work." I walked into my living room locking the door behind me and picking up my belt as I turned the lights off. I locked my front door and took the stairs down to the parking garage. I walked out to the line of cars that were parked by the door to my own little gun metal colored Audi R8. I hit the button on my key as it flashed it's light and I opened the door.

"Evening Cat. On your way in to work?" the familiar voice of Keith asked behind me. Keith was one of the older security guards that worked around the building. "Going to use the way I showed you?"

"Always do Keith." I smiled. "I beat him to work every time." I laughed as I got into the car and turned it on. I pulled out slowly onto the street and made an immediate right. I followed it down to an old abandoned road that Keith had shown me a couple of months ago. It had no lights and every so often I might see one car. It was as if the street didn't exist to the people in city, but it was a fast way to get downtown and smooth and curvy. All in all it was a nice smooth ride to and from work. The first time I went down it I looked everywhere for speed limits and found none. I just figured I'd do the speed I want and if there was a cop then I'd argue the point that there were no clear speed limit signs. I looked at my odometer as it kept climbing to eighty. This was the best feeling in the world. Nothing to stop me and an open road. I saw the little run down shack on my right and knew that I was halfway there. I always knew that as soon as I passed the little shack that looked like an outhouse that it was my halfway point. I imagined Mark stopped at a light waiting for it to turn green surrounded by cars. I hit the button on the steering wheel to turn the music on as I came to the only intersection. I slowed down a little to make sure I saw no lights and pushed down on the accelerator again. The odometer was reading eighty-seven. Yep, music and open road was all I needed at the moment.

I saw the stop sign ahead and took my foot off the accelerator and pressed down gently on the brake. I had reached the end of my road. I took a left and followed it past the houses that lined the street to the main road. I turned right and was once again in the city and quickly made my way to the station. I pulled in up front and turned the car off. I slowly walked in past the front desk. "Evening Cat, congratulations on the bust the other night." Claire greeted me.

"Thanks Claire. Is Mark here yet?" I asked trying to mask my smile.

"You know you always beat him here." She smiled.

"Don't tell him you saw me alright?" I asked

"Never saw you" she answered as she went back to typing something up on the computer. Around me people sat at desks and typing and answering the phones that rang.

"You know he called me and said that tonight was going to be the night he was going to beat you in." Paul said as he saw me from behind his computer. I casually walked over to the desk in front of him and placed my stuff down and sat down.

"He will never beat me to work." I smiled as I turned my computer on. I watched as the screen flashed on and asked me for my password. I typed it in and my screen came alive with color. I quickly opened my email to see that there was a message from the chief asking to see our team at 8pm. I looked in the corner to see that we still had ten minutes and looked over at Paul. "Hey did you get the email about a meeting?"

"Yea, we all did. Mark and Dan had better hurry up. It's probably about what a good job we did and how we shouldn't let Cat go in by herself. Yadda, yadda, yadda." Paul smirked. I couldn't help, but laugh at Paul's nonchalant attitude was about our chief and how he praised and yelled at us about how the team itself worked together. I had to admit the chief usually let us go and do what we had to do. If there was one team that could get away with murder it was ours. The chief knew that we got the job done and did it well. In the past couple of years our team was featured on the local paper as the team who was kicking drugs out of our city. I must say when I first read the article it was a shock. The percentage of drug related crimes had almost diminished up until about a year ago when it started up again.

"I don't know how you do it Cat, but one day you will show me your short cut." Mark said as he sat down to the desk on my left. "We have meeting and Daniel won't be here. His wife is in labor and he has taken the next two weeks off to be with his new family."

My eyes lit up with excitement. "We should go see him after the meeting." We had heard so much about the little bundle of joy that was to be coming into our team members life for the last eight months. We couldn't blame him though. It was their first child and like a good new father to be he even brought me the blurred pictures of the ultrasounds. Like him I had no idea what I was looking at, but was excited just the same for him. Paul and Mark had no interest like many other single men, but it helped Daniel to know that I was there for him.

"Mark" the chief barked from his office. "You and your team needs to meet me in the briefing room now. Daniel won't be in, his wife is in labor, I had Claire send over some flowers and baby stuff to the hospital." he said as he closed his door again.

"The chief sounds so enthused about a new life." Paul said. "Jerk"

Mark looked over at Paul and I. "We will go see Daniel after the meeting and congratulate him in a proper way" he smiled as he lifted a box of cigars that said it's a boy on the box.

"That's what I'm talking about" Paul laughed.

Mark quickly shoved the box in his desk "Get paper and pen if we are going into the briefing room. A new case after we just spent six months taking Sam and his family down we are on to a new one." Paul and I nodded our heads as we grabbed our books and pen and walked over to the briefing room. Paul and I sat on one side next to each other as Mark sat across from us. We sat there in silent for a few moments before the door opened again only to see Misty and Jose come in.

"What are you doing here?" I snarled "I thought this was for our team?"

Misty smiled as she took a seat beside Mark. "The chief asked us to join you. I guess we wouldn't be bad additions to this team. What do you think Mark?"

"This team has all the members it needs Misty. I don't think adding you would make our team better." he answered her.

"If you ask me it might hinder us" Paul laughed.

"We are some of the best in this station!" Jose shot back.

"I don't remember hearing anything about your team taking down one of the biggest drug families of the city." Paul laughed.

"I don't need any of you fighting." The chief barked as he walked in. I noticed a very distinguished looking gentleman come in behind him and took a seat next to the podium. There was a plain girl with her brown hair pulled back into a bun with glasses that sat next to him with an iPad ready to take notes. She reminded me of the librarian at my old elementary school. "First I would like to congratulate Mark and his team for the effort and for the successful take down of Sam and his family. Mark your team has made the headlines again with a lot of publicity, good publicity for the force." Mark smiled as did the rest of us. I looked over at Misty who seemed to keep a smile on her face as she tapped Mark on the shoulder for a good job while smirking at me. "However, Mark when a team as good as yours comes along for some of the members there are always possibilities of advancement, which is the reason Misty and Jose have been invited to this meeting. Let me introduce you to Louis and his assistant Carla. They are part of a very elite team that is going to take one of your team members to join it."

Mark looked over at Paul and I "Which team member will he be taking?"

The chief sighed as he leaned on the podium "I want to ensure you that I would never just go and trade one of our elite members to another team however, when I'm not given a choice my hands are tied."

"Are you saying that you had no choice in this matter?!" Paul exclaimed. "We don't even get to have a say in it? What if we don't want to go? Do we lose our jobs?" Louis approached the chief with a piece a paper. We watched in anticipation as he opened it and looked at it. The look on his face was all we needed as he folded it back and continued.

"Believe me when I say that no one would lose their job over the numbers that I have in my hand. However, if you don't wish to corporate yes you would lose your job. This is why I invited Misty and Jose in on this meeting. Daniel will be out for a while and"

"They want Cat" Mark interrupted him. "That's why Misty is here because they want Cat."

"You're going to replace Cat with Misty? Are you insane?" Paul exclaimed as he stood up. "She would have never joined this team a few years back because of how we operate and she even tried not once, not twice, but three times to get us all fired. And now you want to add her to the team?" Paul looked over at Misty "If you for one second think you're half as good as Cat your wrong. You could never replace her in a million years so don't even try it!"

"Enough!" The chief barked again as he tried to get the room under control. "Yes, Cat is the one that they want to move, but now her and Mark don't have a reason to hide behind their work or plan weekend getaways without someone finding out now." Mark and I both looked at him shocked. "Don't give me that look you two. Everyone here knew it and no matter how many precautions you took you work with a bunch of detectives, cops, and SWAT team members to know that you can't keep that a secret." He turned to me "Cat, I'm going to hand you this piece of paper and ask that you pack your desk and go with Louis and Carla. It was a pleasure working with you and I wish you luck on your new venture. As for the rest of you, Misty will be joining your team permanently and Jose is on loan until Daniel arrives back. Everyone get back to work." He said as he handed me the piece of paper and walked out the door. The rest of us sat at the table looking at one another until Misty broke the silence.

"I'm going to get a box to move my stuff. Cat would you like me to grab you one on your way out the door?" she asked with a smirk.

Mark stood up to face Misty "Get out" he said calmly although the look on his face said otherwise.

"I was just saying" Misty stammered as she reached for Mark's hand.

Mark quickly jerked it away "I said get out! We all know what you were trying to say and now you've said and I said get out. You too Jose."

"You can't talk to us like that!" Jose stood up.

"I can and I will." Mark argued. "I'm the commander of this team and what I say goes. Now get out!" he yelled. We watched as Jose and Misty left the room while Louis and Carla seemed to not notice anything that just happened. They were staring at the iPad making notes on something. It was as if the scene in front of them never happened. Mark sat back down and laid his head in his hands defeated as Paul sat back in his chair with his arms crossed. "Mr. Louis and Ms. Carla do you mind if I take a few moments with my old team member to say goodbye?"

Louis looked up for a moment and shook his head. "No, take all the time you need." he said as he continued to look on with Carla with whatever they were writing or taking notes about. Mark looked frustrated as he stood up.

"Cat, I don't know what just happened here, but it was a pleasure working with you and I wish you all the luck in the world on your new venture. This was a big hit to the team and the hole that you will leave will never be able to be filled by anyone." He walked around the table and stood by my side. I slowly found my balance and stood up to meet him. I placed my hand out to shake his when I felt him grab me by my waist and kiss me. I wanted to pull away and say this isn't right. We shouldn't do this. Not here, not in front of everyone, but I didn't. At this time it didn't matter. I was being ripped from my team without as much as an explanation to why or how so this show of affection between Mark and I wouldn't matter. When Mark finally pulled back and I opened my eyes he said "I call you when I get off or maybe I'll just show up to make you breakfast" and with that he walked out and closed the door.

Paul looked at me and gave me hug. "I can't compete with Marks goodbye, but I hope this will mean that you'll never forget any of us." he said as a tear rolled down his cheek. "Good luck with your new job." I watched as he walked out and closed the door. I stood there not knowing what to do next. I sat back down at the table looking at Louis and Carla. Louis nodded his head as Carla handed him some paper and he finally looked toward me.

"Catalina" he said. It took me a moment for my name to register. I hadn't heard anyone call me by my real name since my mother and father were alive and most people thought my name started with a K for Kaitlin. "Catalina?" he said again. I shook my head and looked up at him.

"I'm sorry. It's just that"

"Most people call you Cat. If you would like I can call you Cat is that name better for you?" he asked. I nodded my head. "Alright Cat, this is your welcome packet. My suggestion is that you take tonight to look it over fill it out and someone will be in touch with you tomorrow to let you know where and when you will be required for work. There will be a briefing about what you do and you have your salary written on the paper and this is the best number to get a hold of you correct?" he pushed his cellphone toward me and I looked at my name and saw my home phone and cell phone number in front of me.

"How'd you" I started

"It's our job." he stated. "We will be in touch. Carla, let's go." I watched as they both exited through the door and left. I sighed as I stood up and walked out the door that everyone had already left through. I looked around the room to see that many of the smiling faces that once greeted me now look upon me in sadness. I walked by many of them wondering how much they had heard and what they had heard. I sped up my pace toward my old desk only to see Misty standing there.

"I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of taking stuff off the top your desk and kept all your files…I mean my files now in order. Good luck on your new job. I'll keep my eye on Mark for you." She smiled.

"Get me a coffee Misty." Mark said from behind his computer.

"Excuse me?" Misty turned around

"I didn't stutter. I said get me a coffee. Two sugars and three creamers. Go now." Mark demanded. Misty huffed off toward the coffee machine as Mark got up and came toward me. "The chief is letting us all off at ten to congratulate Daniel on his baby. Do you want to meet us at the hospital?"

"Yea, I'll meet you there." I said as I threw the paper work that Louis had handed me into the box and picked it up.

"Cat. I have to ask for your gun and badge back. I'm sorry" Mark said.

I shook my head. "No you're right." I said as I put the box back down and took my gun out and placed my badge in his hand.

Paul picked up the box "We'll walk you outside. The least we can do for one of our own."

"Thanks Paul" I said still trying to grip the situation around me. Misty put the coffee down on Marks desk.

"Two sugars and three creamers. Would you like anything else?" she asked with a smile.

"Yea, the guns need cleaning. Why don't you and Jose do that while we walk Cat to her car." Mark said as he put his hand on the small of my back and we started walking.

"I can take them down to the gun room and have them cleaned. Jose and I don't need to clean them." she protested.

"That's not what I said. You and Jose clean the guns. Take them a part and clean them. We will be back." Mark insisted. A tear came to my eye. That was the first thing Mark had shown me when I started at the academy. He taught me how to take apart and clean the gun and even made a game out of it to see how fast we could do it. This saved me in so many situations when it came to loading and emptying the clip. He was already training them and they had no idea.

**Chapter 3**

I awoke the next morning to the sun shining brightly in my room and my dark hair in tangles around my face. I looked toward my clock to see that it was 11am. I threw the blanket over my face and turned over. The sound of my phone ringing blared with the thumping in my head. I fumbled around the night stand and found the phone. I answered it and didn't even recognize my own voice. "Hello?"

"Catalina, it's Carla. You had a rough night last night. It's alright we understand since the pressure and all would cause such stress. Sometimes we need to unwind." I rolled my eyes under the covers as her annoying voice continued. "We need you to meet us for dinner at around seven o'clock at the Park 75 restaurant downtown. Please be dressed for the occasion and all will be explained."

"What do you mean dressed?" I asked knowing that my usual attire of jeans and a t-shirt was unacceptable.

Carla sighed "A little black dress will do with your hair done, some make up, panty hose and nice high heels."

"And if I have none of those things?" I smirked.

"Arrangements will be made." she answered back without hesitation. "See you at seven" and with that the phone went dead.

"Arrangements will be made." I mocked her. Between her phone call and the sun blaring into my bedroom sleep was not possible. I got up and grabbed a pony tail holder and put my hair up. I walked out to my kitchen only to find that coffee had already been made with a little note next to the pot. "Tucked you in and put the coffee on a timer for you. Call me when you wake up. Mark" I smiled as I put the note down, poured myself a cup of coffee and went to my balcony to greet the day. I watched the non busy street and reminded my self that by this time I myself might have been at work. The pounding in my head started to subside as I went to take a sip of coffee I noticed a blue stamp on my hand and put my coffee down to have a closer look. It was black a standard color and it had read XVX. Roman numerals maybe? I thought. Wonder when I got this? My phone rang. "Hello?"

"Morning sunshine." Marks voice came through. "How are you feeling?"

"I feel like I blacked out. Where did we go?" I asked

"We went to the hospital and visited with Daniel and then we went home. Where did you go last night?" My heart sank. I couldn't remember what I did last night and I have a weird stamp on my hand. "Cat are you alright? I mean you were very upset last night, but we went home. I came by to check on you and you were already asleep so I left you a note and put the coffee on a timer."

"What time did you check on me?" I asked

"Well, you left sometime around eleven and Paul and I left at midnight. Cat what is wrong?" If Paul and Mark left around midnight it would take Mark about thirty minutes to get to my house. He knew the code to shut off my alarm and had a spare key. He stopped by my house around twelve thirty. Where would I go and not remember? That gave me an hour and a half that I was missing from my night. No, wait I don't remember going to the hospital. I sat down on the chair and thought for a moment. "Cat are you alright?" a pause "Cat answer me." Marks voice stronger this time.

I did the next best thing I could think of "Mark I need you right now." I started.

"I'll be there" and with that the phone went silent. I looked at my arms, my legs, and my body. No bruises, no scars. Where had I been? What had I done? I ran inside to see the mirror hanging on my wall and looked at my face. No makeup, no black circles. Why did it feel as if something was out of place. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath and turned around. What was the last thing that I remember doing? I opened my eyes and went to my room to throw some clothes on. I ran downstairs to the parking lot to see that my car was parked safely in my spot. I opened the door and looked around. Nothing seemed to be out place.

"Morning Cat." Keith greeted me. "Heard you got a promotion. Congratulations." I turned my head slowly.

"How did you know that I got a promotion?" I asked

"You told me last night after you introduced me to your new friend. A good looking fellow he was. Very distinguished and courteous. What happened between you and Mark?" he laughed

I shook my head. "Nothing happened between Mark and I" I stammered. "Can you describe this guy I was with last night?" Keith smiled a little.

"You don't remember? He was tall with slicked back brown hair, very nice brown eyes, very business like he was. At first Barry thought you were talking to yourself and asked me to check on you. I was on the second floor making my rounds and came down here to see you and your friend out here talking."

"Why would Barry think that I was talking to myself?" I asked

"Cause he didn't see the guy on the camera, but the systems been actin up lately you know. You kids and all this crazy electronics and stuff. We just called in the camera people and they've been looking at it all morning." he said looking toward the camera in the corner. I looked up to see the little black dome in the shadow of the corner and looked at my car. Even at that angle you would have been able to see me and this guy.

"Keith," I thought about how I was going to place this off. I needed to him to tell me his name without seeming like a one night stand which was where this was going fast. "You know my friend and I" I snapped my fingers like I was trying to find an answer.

"Landon" Keith blurted out.

"Of course. Landon. Um Landon and I we're just good friends you know." I smiled. Keith smiled back and started to walk away.

"Good friends." he said as he continued to walk away. I walked over to the elevator and pushed the button and waited. Everything from last night was a blur. The last solid thing I remember was leaving the station to come home. Did I even make it home? My box, where was my box? I quickly turned around and hit the button for my trunk. I opened it up to see that my box was still in my trunk. I never took it out. Out of frustration I grabbed my box and lifted it up as I felt the thumping in my head start again. I took a step forward only to meet the pavement as my legs gave out. My head started to swim again and I felt nauseous. I felt my body start to heat up and I just wanted to lie down on the nice cool pavement. I felt the uneasy feeling in my stomach start to rise to my throat and then threw up on the ground. I quickly wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and looked around. The feeling of dizziness started in around me as I heard Keith's voice. "Cat? Cat are you alright?" I shook my head and instantly regretted it as the thumping in my head became worse. I could feel my energy draining and started to close my eyes. All I wanted to do at this moment was lay down and sleep.

"Cat! Cat! Speak to me Cat!" Mark shouted at me.

I slowly opened my eyes. "Mark" I smiled. "Help me." I fought the urge to close my eyes again and lost as my eyes closed again.

**Chapter 4**

Voices swarmed around me. Some that I recognized and some that I didn't. I wasn't sure how long I had been out, but at least I felt a little better. I slowly opened my eyes to see that I was in a hospital bed and saw that the voices were from the television that had been left on. I looked over to see that no one was in the room with me and there was a large two way mirror where a window should have been. I looked around the clean room when a voice startled me.

"Catalina welcome back. How do you feel?" Louis asked.

I turned my head to see Louis and Carla standing on the other side of the mirror. "Where am I?" I demanded as I went to get up and noticed that my hands had been restraint to the bed. I shook the restraints and looked over at them. "What is this?"

"Precautions Catalina, only precautions." Louis tried to reassure me.

"Precautions!" I yelled "You restrain me to the bed because I blacked out? What is with you people?" I heard the door open as two doctors came in. "Don't touch me!" I yelled as one of them approached me. I glared at him as he took out a stereoscope "I said don't touch me." I snarled. He bent down as I tried to break free from the restraints.

"Catalina" Carla tried to get my attention. "All we want to do is try and help you. Please corporate. It would be much obliged."

"Are you kidding me right now?" I yelled back. "What kind of sick experiments are you guys up to? Does Mark know I'm here?"

"Just relax." Louis encouraged. "All your questions will be answered in a few short moments if you just relax."

"Will you take the restraints off of me?" I asked. Louis nodded and I let my body relax. I looked around the room to see not much that I could was available to me for resources. I looked at the doctor as he examined my arm and fingers. He wrote something down and then moved his lab coat over to get something from his pocket. It looked to be a small silver ball and I noticed the gun on his hip. This is what I needed. I examined the doctor closely as he placed the little silver ball in my hand and asked me to make a fist. I did so all the while sizing him up. He was about Mark's height which about five foot nine, an average size. He looked to be about two hundred and ten pounds and a lot of that was muscle. I noticed that he took notes with his right hand which is why is gun was on right which meant that I needed something to be on his left to distract him long enough to grab it. The doctor tapped my hand and I opened it to see that he went to write something else and then shook his head at the mirror. He took the ball from my hand and placed it back in his pocket.

"Shall I release her?" the doctor asked Louis

A smile came across Louis's face as he shook his head. "No, she's been watching your every move since you've entered this room and by the way she's been very compliant already knows her exit. Don't you Catalina?"

I shook my head and smiled at him "I have no idea what you're talking about. You already told me you'd let me go so I listened."

Louis shook his head at me. "That's a good lie to start with, but you're going to have to get better at it." I watched as the doctor left and Louis and Carla entered the room. Carla shut the door behind her and walked over to my bed.

"Just relax, I'm going to let you go." she smiled. I watched as Louis stood by the door as if he was guarding it. She moved over to my feet first and undid the restraints and then moved toward my wrists. She undid each wrist carefully and smiled. "See all better. Now, I'm hoping you read the packet that was given you." I smiled at her and shook my head. Carla rolled her eyes. "Of course you didn't because if you did you wouldn't be in this predicament.

Just watching Carla in this moment made my blood boil. All I wanted to do was punch her in the face and wipe that smile off her face. "What predicament would that be?" I asked

"Not knowing your enemies Catalina" Louis said

"Cat. Please call me Cat. I hate my name" I snarled.

"It's a beautiful name and one that everyone here is going to call you as well as your enemies." Louis smiled

"Well, you can just show me the door. I don't care if I have a job to go back to. Maybe I'll just spend the rest of my days with Mark become a stay at home mom and live my life. My parents have left me with enough to take care of me and two generations after me." I said as I stood up and had to feel for my balance. My head was a little light, but I wasn't going to let them know that.

"Oh Catalina, we know all about your family and how much you're worth. It's your life we worry about if your enemies find out from which family" Louis started

"Clan" Carla interrupted him

"Ah yes, thank you Carla. What clan you belong to." Louis corrected himself. "Give me an hour and then you can either stay or walk away. Besides we both know that you're story of settling down wouldn't work it's not in you to stay at home. You want so much more than that."

Beyond my good judgement "You have an hour and that's it" I said.

Louis nodded his head. "Take a look at the mirror" I looked over at the mirror which now acted as a television. "Welcome to Night, we are a special group formed by the intelligence of this country to see beyond what we know as legends. We have security clearance for anything that needs night to survive." I watched as a monitor of a bus stop was pulled up from to view. "Take a look at the latest video that we have" he said as I watched. Nothing seemed to move in the dark or around the bus stop and watching the numbers move didn't seem that interesting. I huffed and crossed my arms. "Just wait. Let's see how well you really are." I rolled my eyes and continued to watch. The numbers went from nine to nine fifteen and I saw something move. It was swift whatever it was. I stood up.

"Wait. Rewind that" I said moving closer to the mirror. I watched as the numbers went backwards. There was no way. It seemed that the thing had jumped from the bottom of the bridge in the background to the top. I watched as it went forward again and waited for the the black figure to reappear. When it did I put my hand up to stop and saw that the pictured paused. It looked to be human. Maybe he was on a line? I turned to Louis. "Can we zoom in on that?" I asked. Louis nodded and made the picture move in closer. I saw a man and watched as he gracefully swing over the railing and started walking and then moved into a run and was gone. I stepped back in amazement. No man could do that. He didn't undo a wire, he didn't seem attached to anything. How could he do that?

"Remember his face Catalina." Louis said. "Let's move to another camera" I watched as the scene was now in front of a shack. I stopped in disbelief. It wasn't just any shack, it was my shack on the deserted road. I turned as Louis smiled at me. "You don't want to miss this." I watched as I could see headlights moving down the road. I knew those headlights. They were mine. I didn't like where this was going or where it was headed and then I watched as my car came to a halt. I watched myself get out of the car as the man…the same man on the bridge stepped by my car. I seemed to be asking if he was alright. I had to know.

"Do you have audio?" I asked.

"Sure" Louis said as he turned the volume up. "Let me back this up a little."

I watched as the video went back a little and then Louis pressed play. I watched as I got out of the car. "Are you alright?" I asked

"Yea, sorry I got lost back here on this road." the man answered. "There really isn't any street lights or anything. Seems dangerous."

"Yea, you shouldn't be out here" I said. I watched as the man stepped forward and I seemed to step back. "I wouldn't if I were you." I threatened "I'm…" I stopped like I had just remembered that I had been traded to another team.

"You're beautiful." the man smiled. I looked up at him. I watched as he stepped closer and I seemed to be in a trance.

"I have to meet my friends" I heard myself say and the man smiled and then I watched as he got into my car and we drove away.

I turned to Louis. "What was that? And who was that?" I asked.

"His name is Landon DuBois" Carla answered "He is clan less right now, but seems to be getting attention fast."

I shook my head. "What does that mean he's clan less and how did he get me to let him in my car?" I exclaimed. "I mean he was at the bridge at nine fifteen and when you're walking it would take at least a good thirty minutes to get to the road that I use and another ten minutes to get to that spot. How'd he?"

"Catalina come walk with me for a minute. Carla why don't you hand her some clothes so that way we can explain things to her. I'll be outside." he said

Carla moved over toward the door and retrieved a garment bag from the other side and walked over to the bed. "Everything you need should be in there. We'll be waiting for you outside." I looked over at the mirror as Carla looked over as well. "Oh yea." She pushed a button on her phone as a curtain went suddenly started coming down in front of it. "No one will be able to see you. I promise." she smiled as she went out of the room.

I opened the bag to find a little black lacy dress with black pumps. Really? I thought. I rolled my eyes and put the dress on, I mean what choice did I have? I put the shoes on and opened the door. "Perfect." Carla smiled as Louis extended his bent arm.

"Go on" Louis said as if I would ever take his hand.

"I'd rather not boss" I snarled.

Louis smiled as he grabbed my hand, I tried to jerk it away but his strength surprised me. He put my hand around his arm as we started down the hallway. "Get used to this. These people that we are watching are very old…and very old fashioned. I'm going to need you to act appropriately." he said as we turned a corner. "Let me start again. We are part of a group called Night. We watch everything that happens at night. Things that people are not aware of or have been convinced are legends are what we watch. We have security clearance for everything in order to keep the city safe. There are a couple of branches for us kind of like the police, SWAT, and special force teams, but we are a more trained group. The police and SWAT have no jurisdiction when we arrive and cannot interfere with our work. They can't ask questions and are made to clear out immediately."

"Why have I never ran into you guys when I was on the force?" I asked wondering why I had never even heard a rumor about this group.

Louis smiled. "Because to everyone around else we don't exist. We are the first to arrive to a scene and we are never late or delayed. Once we are there alarms are shut off and people don't ask questions. Carla make sure she gets a badge and has all of her credentials been updated?"

"Yes sir" Carla answered dryly not even looking up from her tablet as she continued to follow us down the hall. We turned another corner as some men in black suits passed us and nodded their heads. Louis nodded his head in return and smiled.

"Those are just some of our select few that get to clean up messes. You'll get to know them more as you work here. Now given that you are the best that our city has to offer in ways of…how shall we put this?" Louis asked looking for the right word. "I'll just call you as others here would call you an assassin."

"A what?" I exclaimed as I halted and took my hand back. "No! I'm not. I protect the public and I help keep drugs off the street and lock away people that belong there. Never have I ever killed anyone in cold blood or even paid to kill someone."

Louis chuckled. "Let's get this straight. You were in the warehouse setting up for a dance with guns and the two men that did die that night were shot by you and you received a paycheck from the city for doing a days work. Am I correct in saying such things?"

"I shot them in self defense. They shot first." I exclaimed. "I was doing my job"

"And a very good job you did." Louis smiled. "In this world you'd be known as an assassin. The way you plan your every move and seem to know exactly how the scene will be played out. Nice work by the way of suggesting the mirror to see. Shall we continue?" He asked as he held out his arm. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. If he thought for one second I was going to continue with him after what he just called me he was sorely mistaken. I was part of an elite force and I preformed my job to the best of my abilities. I wasn't going to be sorry for what I had to do. He cleared his throat. "Please we are on a time limit here and like I said before we are never late." I took his arm as he led me down another hallway.

"As I was saying" Louis continued "Given your abilities and your family ties to this group we need you here. Night has been given information that there will be total chaos in one of the clans. You see these people try to play politics and let's just say they aren't the best at it. Don't get me wrong a lot of them have political background, but they just aren't well at it. They have all the time in the world and death…let's just say that death passed over them once."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Death passed over them once?"

"They are vampires" Carla sounded annoyed.

"What?" I laughed as I stopped once again. "Alright, now I know you're both crazy. When is the last time either of you have seen a doctor?"

It was Louis turn to look annoyed. "I know. I know that it sounds absurd, but"

"Absurd? No it sounds crazy!" I laughed. "Look just show me to the door."

"Would you like to know why you found crates full of champagne bottles full of blood?" Louis asked. I smiled as I crossed my arms. Louis held out his arm to me again. I shook my head.

"Not until you tell me." I said

"We are on a tight schedule here. We need to keep moving" He insisted. I rolled my eyes and decided to go along with the crazy people knowing at the end of the night I was going home and reporting them to the police. I took his arm as he continued to guide me through the halls. "Now, blood like that has been transported here for thousands of years and your family is one of the biggest supporters of it." He looked at me and smiled as I smiled back. I knew they were crazy and there was no harm in allowing them to continue. By this time tomorrow they would both be in the little white room with white jackets and I would be reunited with my team. All would be well. He led me up a flight a stairs and opened a door. We stepped out into the night in front of the restaurant that Carla had mentioned to me.

"How'd we do that?" I asked.

Louis smiled at me. "We have our secrets and will show them to you. Are you ready to meet your great-great-great-great-great grandfather?"

I laughed. "If he's still alive sure why not"

**Chapter 5**

The hostess sat us in a corner that faced the street. I looked out the window to see the people passing by and let my mind wonder. I wondered what Mark and the rest of the team was doing. Probably working on an exciting case instead of sitting here with two insane people. Louis handed me a menu and I went to reach for it as he put his hand on mine.

"Please do open it carefully there is something in there for you." he smiled as he looked at the waitress. "Please a nice bottle of wine. Chardonnay." The waitress muttered something and then walked back toward the kitchen. I opened the menu and saw there was paper inside that looked something like a family tree. I watched as it went from one name toward another not recognizing any of the names. I noticed that there was one branch that had a question mark and that branched down into more question marks.

"Why are there question marks?" I asked "Who's family tree is this?"

Louis smiled as he looked at Carla. Carla looked up from the menu and then looked at me. "The family is known as the Giovanni family and they are one of the most powerful families in the clan. They are like well" Carla looked around and lowered her voice "they're kinda like the mafia." I couldn't help but smile as a waitress stopped by with a bottle of wine and three glasses. She poured each glass as she smiled.

"How can I help you this evening?" she smiled.

Carla looked over at Louis. Louis smiled at her "I'll do this go ahead and continue explaining to her."

"Hold on" I said "I can order for myself"

Carla smiled. "I'm sure you can, however, Louis knows exactly what everyone likes and can order for us while I continue to talk."

I could feel my patience wearing thin with her and wanted to not only show them that they have no idea of who I was or what I liked, but also knock her off her hight horse. "I'm sure he knows what you like, but he has no idea"

"That you're allergic to fish and prefer chicken over beef and if you really wanted to pig out that you usually stop by the pizza joint and pick up a supreme pizza and some garlic knots. You don't drink soda and prefer wine over beer. Which is why he ordered chardonnay because you love it when we usually have a red wine with dinner. You're favorite type of ice cream is strawberry and mint chocolate chip." She smiled as I fumed in the corner. I went to say something as she interrupted me. "You're five foot seven inches tall with long black hair, brown eyes, and you weight one hundred and thirty pounds, which you lie to the DMV about and put one hundred and twenty-five." she smirked. "Is there anything that I missed? Louis please order for us so that I can continue to fill her in." Louis nodded his head with a smile and spoke with the waitress as Carla went on.

"The question marks that you see is your family. The family that they have no idea existed until now. They got wind of it a couple years back and wanted to find you and pull you back into the family. You see they are a very particular family and very careful on who they choose to join it. They are the one clan we can't get into until now." she smiled. I watched with hateful eyes toward Carla and tried to keep my focus on her. I couldn't allow my rage to get in the way of valuable information. Then again by this time tomorrow both her and Louis would be in a physic ward so maybe the information wasn't that important. I smiled at the thought as the waitress interrupted my thoughts.

"I'll let the chef know about your order and will be out with your appetizers in a moment." She smiled and walked toward the kitchen.

"Louis, I swear I'm going to drain her right here right now!" Carla snarled.

Louis gave Carla a worrisome look and placed his hands calmly on the table. "Carla we need her and you knew as well as I did that this wouldn't be easy." He turned toward me. "Let's see what Carla heard and what she didn't." he put his index finger to the side of his mouth and thought for a moment. "We are crazy and"

"By this time tomorrow we'll be in a physic ward" Carla snarled again as I noticed something on the sides of her mouth. They looked to be sharp pointed teeth. A shiver went down my spine as I tried to regain control of the situation again. Without taking my eyes off of them I grabbed for my purse only to find that it wasn't there. Panic started to set in. I didn't have my gun, didn't have my badge, and couldn't make a phone call.

"Purse is over here." Louis smiled. "Can't call your friends. They think that you are out of town on a very secret mission." he continued to smile. "Now as Carla was saying the question marks are because the Giovanni family had no idea that some of their family had been in hiding for about the last hundred years. Your mother was born into this family and found out who she was. She tried to hide and then was given a choice. A choice for her to marry and have a child or to die and join the rest of the family. She found your father and married and had you. However, because of who your father was" he said as he picked up his badge and tossed it toward me. I examined it as I let my finger feel the imprint of his old number and name across the badge. I felt anger and sadness. How would he be able to have my father's badge? Louis continued "he was able to keep you a secret. According to the records the baby that your mother gave birth to died within the hour. Your mother and father raised you only until they were both given the choice again. Your father didn't want to give up his job so he took the night shift and your mother always made sure she stayed out of the light. It wasn't until one night someone went into the house while you were away at college that someone found out about that baby and tried to have you found. Your parents weren't giving up your location and no matter where they looked no records of you were found. Your parents took your existence to their grave. Have you ever wondered why both your parents are ashes? Why you never got to see a body?"

"Sir, he's here." Carla whispered from across the table. Louis looked up as I looked over to see who he was looking at. I saw a young man with dark hair escorted with about three other men as they slowly walked back toward a dark booth in the corner.

"Catalina are you ready to meet your one of the oldest members of your family?" Louis asked.

I sat an ate the meal that a Louis had ordered for me and had to admit that it was something that I would order. The veal seemed to melt in my mouth and asparagus was cooked to perfection. I watched as Louis and Carla pushed their food around, but never ate. They would put their forks to their mouths and cut the meat, but never seemed to take a bite. Louis would take small glances around the room as if waiting for something to happen while Carla seemed more anxious. I had taken very carful note of my surroundings and saw that the bathroom was not too far and hoped that the bathroom had windows or near a back door. "Would you excuse me?" I asked. "Little girls room" I smiled as Louis got up. I went to grab my purse as Louis put his hand on mine. I smiled "Need something that should be in there if you hadn't taken it out." I smiled back at him.

Carla laughed. "Don't miss those days." I shot her a look and stomped off to the bathroom. I slowly closed the door and looked around. Nope no windows. Bathrooms with windows were always in the movies, but never in real life. I went over to one of the stalls and closed the door. I opened my purse to see that nothing was in there, but my wallet. They had taken my phone and my gun out it. I smirked. I'd been left with less and was still able to make it. I sighed as I opened the door and walked up to the sink and looked at myself in the mirror. My long black hair curled upward at the end and each layer seem to fall perfectly in place. When did I ever care what I looked like and all these people seemed to care very much how I looked and who I was. I heard the door open and turned my head to see a medium height woman with red hair walk in. She smiled at me as I returned the smile and picked up my purse.

"Good evening Catalina" she said as she passed me. I watched as she walked up to the mirror and looked around her purse and brought our her lipstick.

"I'm sorry. Do I?" I started

"Know me?" she asked as she puckered her lips and quickly stuffed the lipstick in her purse. "No, but then again does anyone really know who we are?" her smiled sent a wave of coldness through my body as I quickly went for the door. "Do mind the guy that you'll run into on the other side." she said as I opened the door and almost plowed the guy standing on the other side. I took a step back to catch myself from falling as I looked up at a tall man that looked as if he spent most of his days at the gym.

"Excuse me." I said as I shook my head and went to go around him. He stepped in my way and I took another step back. "I'm sorry," as I stepped to the other side and he quickly moved in front of me. I sighed as I had enough. "Look" I growled "I'm just trying to get back to my friends"

"Let her by" I heard another voice say as the big man went to his knees. I saw another man with short slicked back black hair standing behind him with his hand on his shoulder. The man seemed to be in a lot of pain as he looked up at me.

"Oh, come now." the woman from the bathroom stood behind me. "We were just having fun"

"This is not fun Victoria and I told you to stay out of this." the man said calmly. I stepped around the two me and quickly went toward the table and stopped as the man and the woman began talking very quietly. I looked over at the table and saw that Louis and Carla seemed to have their head down as if their life depended on it. This was my chance to get out of here. I quickly moved toward the front of the restaurant and past the hostess and out into the night. I walked a few blocks before I flagged a taxi down.

I jumped into the back seat as the cab driver looked at me through the rearview mirror. "Where to?" he asked.

"The police station" I answered him "The faster the better" The cab took off into traffic as I looked behind me to see Carla come outside and I ducked behind the seat. I don't think she saw me, but just to make sure I stayed down a little bit longer to make sure I was out of sight.

"Are you alright Miss?" the cab driver asked. I slowly leaned back up and nodded my head as he turned his attention back to the road. I know that as soon as I get to the station that Mark will know what to do. He always knows what to do. I felt the cab come to a sudden halt and the cab drive curse under his breath as he got out the car. "What in the hell do you think you're doing?" he shouted. I looked out to see an outline figure of a woman, but nothing else. I heard my door open as the man with the slicked back black hair climb in beside me. I turned toward my door and went to open it as I heard it lock and the front driver side door close.

"You do know where you are going correct?" the man asked the cab driver.

"Yes sir. We will be there shortly." the cab driver answered him and started on his way.

"No!" I screamed "Let me out!"

"Please don't yell Catalina." the man sighed. "You do remind me of your mother. She was always so dramatic of some things, but like you she was a good fighter and an even better liar." I grabbed the latch to the door to try it again and failed. I looked over at the man dressed in a Armoni black suite as he stared out the window. "Of all the choices of transpiration you decide that your get away car is a filthy cab."

"It's better than walking or taking the bus" I shot back

"I wouldn't have followed you on a bus. More people."

"I'll make note of that." I said. "What do you want and how do you know my mother?"

"All in due time. I will answer all your questions when we get to the house where I can show you the family tree. Please don't run again. I don't have time for it and quite frankly I have better things to be worried about." he sighed.

"Then let me go and worry about the other things." I snarled.

The man chuckled. "You really don't know. You have no idea who you are or what family you belong to." he shook his head. "Your mother really was a piece of work"

"You say one more thing about my mother so help me" I started

"I wouldn't finish that sentence Catalina Giovanni" he smiled. "That's right. That's your real name and yes I can prove it. I even have pictures of your mother and father and what really happened to them. Would you like to know?"

I didn't know how to answer. I knew that if I went along with it he would give me this answer, but if I didn't what could he do to me? Maybe he did know about what happened to my parents. "Fine" I huffed as I sat back in my seat and looked out the window. A phone rang and he reached into is coat pocket and answered it.

"Bring them to the house. They found her and will be rewarded for it. They still aren't free yet. I need someone to babysit her until further arrangements can be made." he said.

"Further arrangements?" I asked

He smiled. "Sit back and enjoy the ride. You'll find out soon enough."

**Chapter 6**


End file.
